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Mumbles Yacht Club hosted the second
event in the series of the six Craftinsure Topper Nationwide weekends that
span the length and breadth of the Country. With 178 boats rigged and waiting on the edge of Swansea Bay,
Dave Shepard the PRO sent the fleet out into a pleasant 10Knt breeze.
In the first pair of races Marina Brassington won from Ngaire Strawbridge
and Hugh Brayshaw, and Freddie Connor showed a clean pair of heals to win
the second pair of flights from
Andrew Brown and Stephen Beckett.
Between the first and second races the wind increased and went left
causing a number of false starts.
Eventually the fleet got away cleanly and Anna Piggot lead the fist
pair of flights from Andrew Rose and Andrew Brown, with the second pair
dominated by Freddie with Lynn Billowes and Nathan Ackroyd chasing. Given the amount of time on the water
the third race was shortened to ensure that the tired sailors could get in
for a well deserved shower. Freddie
managed to get entangled in an incident on the line so there were some new
faces at the front. Fergus Barnham
led from Hugh Brayshaw and Ben Hodges with the second pair of flights won
by Stephen Beckett with Ngaire and Michael Matthews following.
Day two dawned with a very light and patchy breeze and the race committee
were concerned that no racing would be possible so hoisted a
postponement. With nearly 200 Toppers
clogging up the local car park and delivery area for the Café, the Ice
Cream delivery man could not get in.
In the hope of some breeze and in order to keep the ice cream on tap
the Toppers launched and proceeded to create a new World Record - a 178 boat follow-my-leader. By the time the first start was underway
there was a light 5knt breeze, the first race was won by Elliot Hansen with
George Meredith and Robin Elsey in pursuit and the second flight by
Felicity Foulds with Matthew Johnson and Jack Hopkins trying to catch
her. The second pair of races and
what turned out to be the last set of the event again was held in light
conditions with Jack Hopkins leading from Freddie and Lorenzo Chiavarini,
with Felicity showing dominance in these conditions from Joanna Lucas and
Anna Ackroyd.
At prize giving with the table loaded with
prizes from Craftinsure and Sailing Solutions the fleet was praised by
guest judge and RYA Chairman Eddie Ramsden and by the Mumbles organising
committee. With eight different
race winners consistency won the race for Andrew Brown with 6th being his
highest position and one point ahead of Freddie who was in turn 2 points
ahead of Stephen Beckett, Lynn Billowes was first lady in 7th
position. The Class thanked Mumbles
for an excellent weekend and Craftinsure for sponsoring the event.
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